ARTICLES ABOUT GAYS BY DATE - PAGE 4

The Republican hate mongers are at it again. This time it's really ugly. Tea party activists - and don't you just love the tea party activists - ripped County Commissioner Chip LaMarca and School Board member Heather Brinkworth for participating in a gay pride parade in Wilton Manors. And they did it in an ugly manner. Republican committeewoman and co-founder of the Tea Party Fort Lauderdale, Danita Kilculler, sent our email versions of a flier, and added the statement “whores chasing whores, if you will.” If you wonder why the GOP has an image problem this is your answer.

Today, with your indulgence, I'll open today's screed with a digression. About thirty years ago, a friend and I went to a nightclub in Washington, D.C. to attend a performance of “Forbidden Broadway,” the satirical send-up of musicals from the Great White Way. Being an editorial cartoonist, I scanned the room to see if there were any famous politicos in the audience I might have sketched. Nobody. But I did recognize one couple, Eli Wallach and Eva Marie Saint - two pillars of American cinema dating from a time when you actually had to have talent and ability to be famous.

When I heard some local Tea Party zealots had worked themselves into a frothy lather over a Republican political misstep, I naively assumed it was over the revelation that Gov. Rick Scott had been spotted at a Fort Lauderdale Starbucks sipping a chai tea with soy milk, cinnamon and Truvia. I mean, a conservative can lose his Fox News Karl Rove Card for that. Next thing you know, the guv will be slapping a Sierra Club bumper sticker on a new Prius and swapping NPR for Rush on his auto-tune.

Original post | 11:05 a.m. Updated with comments from Brinkworth | 12:50 p.m. Updated with additional comments from Truex | 5:25 p.m. Two of Broward's top Republicans are being attacked by a faction of their own party for participating in this past weekend's gay pride parade in Wilton Manors. The critics are going after County Commissioner Chip LaMarca, the only Republican on the nine-member commission, as he campaigns for re-election in November. They're also targeting Heather Brinkworth, who was appointed to the School Board by Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Gay rights activst Michael Rajner is handicapping the Fort Lauderdale City Commission vote on a resolution supporting gay marriage -- scheduled for Tuesday -- and isn't optimistic that it will pass. He said in an email he thinks a 3-2 defeat of the measure, sponsored by Commissioner Dean Trantalis, is possible. Rajner is a prominent activist in the gay community in Broward. He's also the legislative director for the Florida GLBT Democratic caucus. From the email he sent Tuesday morning: Yesterday, I spoke with Mayor [Jack]

In Florida, opportunity for every American to find a job, to own a home, and to raise a family should shine brighter than anywhere else. That will be the foundation of the Sunshine State's future. Once again, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi took Florida backwards. Bondi made headlines when she issued a legal brief arguing that "significant public harm" would befall Florida if the state were to recognize marriage equality. She even claimed that gay Floridians are incapable of raising children in "stable and enduring family units.

Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi claims that same-sex marriage will "harm" Floridians. Really? What does she offer as evidence? Given that she has been divorced twice, Ms. Bondi is a typical Republican hypocrite. What a Palinish mentality. Richard Mayora, Oakland Park

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee said Monday she favors President Obama's order banning federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian and gay employees. Wasserman Schultz's statement: “President Obama's decision to sign an executive order to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or identity for federal contractors marks another significant step in our nation's progress on civil rights. As the President has said, 'in the United States, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense.' “The executive order comes almost exactly one year after the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act following President Obama's refusal to defend DOMA's constitutionality.

The documentary "Undressing Israel: Gay Men in the Promised Land" provides the viewers with an insightful look into the Jewish State's gay community. The Miami Jewish Film Festival, a program of the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education, and Bill Cosford Cinema will present the film's Florida Premiere on June 19 at 7:30 p.m. This screening takes place at Bill Cosford Cinema, 5030 Brunson Drive in Coral Gables. It will be hosted by Steve Rothaus, the Miami Herald's staff writer covering LGBT issues in South Florida, who will introduce the film and moderate a question and answer session with the film's director, Michael Lucas.

Regarding your editorial about Pam Bondi's fight against same-sex marriage: Ohio, like Florida, does not recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Yet freedom requires that one should be allowed to do anything that does not restrict the freedom of someone else. And no one loses freedom by granting marriage benefits to gays and their children. This issue will undoubtedly go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The four reliably liberal justices — and Justice Anthony Kennedy, who killed the Defense of Marriage Act — will rule that Florida, Ohio and all states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in any state.